Souveneirs and Baggage
by Daria234
Summary: Set post S7, Buffy finally decides she's glad that Willow brought her back to the living. She wants to make sure Willow know it, too. Buffy and Willow friendship fic with fun travel memories.


"How was Europe? Did you love it? Say you loved it! Only if you mean it of course! But it's Italy! How could you not love it?" Willow spoke a mile a minute, face animated with the excitement of their reunion.

"I loved it!" Buffy laughed, "I ate 9,000 pounds of spaghetti. Except that it was called by all those specific names for the different types of pasta. Like orechiette. Which apparently was invented for Mike Tyson. But how about you? How was the higher plane?"

"Awesome. SO awesome. It was amazing," Willow said, and then added in a low voice, "But it made my tummy hurt when I went there after a big meal."

"Aww..."

"But otherwise, awesome. Invigorating, but still calming, if that makes sense."

"Totally - that's EXACTLY how I feel about going to Rome!"

"Good!" Willow said, and then thought of something: "Oh!! Oh!! Did you get to fight evil things in the Coliseum?"

Buffy feigned hesitance and then admitted, "Totally. I mean, I know it's like practically wearing a T-shirt that says 'Hi-I'm-your-Slayer-and-I'm-a-tourist,' but I couldn't resist the photo op."

They both laughed then and hugged for what must have been the tenth time since they reunited. Buffy turned serious, then, though, and said, "I have something to tell you, though. It's important and it's kind of been on my mind for a while."

"Uh oh. Important good or important bad?"

"Important good. Really good. I wanted to tell you about this time. We went to Florence for the weekend, and we saw the statue of David, and we were on the way back to the hotel, and Dawn was making jokes about how we should try to find David some pants, and we kind of stumbled into these amazing gardens. There was a fountain and just the most gorgeous red and purple and orange flowers just teeming everywhere. And we walked around and made a wish in the fountain, and we met this cool Italian professor who saw us looking around and she told us the history of the garden and she was totally like the female Italian version of Giles. And then she told about this restaurant, that had the best cheap food in Florence, and we walked there and they were playing '90's songs on the radio and the food was SO good and Dawn and I just laughed hysterically the whole time. And then we started walking again because I had a date and Dawn had plans to go to some party with Andrew, and the sun was setting as we walked over the bridge. And we just stood there to watch the sun go down, and the breeze felt so good, and there were some trees blossoming by the riverbank that just smelled amazing, and I just stood there, and all I could think was how happy I was to have that moment."

Willow smiled. "That sounds so amazing Buffy. I'm so glad you and Dawnie had such an awesome time."

"Thanks. But that's not what I meant, Willow. I meant ... in that moment, all I could think of was how grateful I was to be alive."

Willow nodded, trying to understand, "Sure, I mean, after all you had to go through just to have the freedom to take a vacation -"

"No, what I mean is- I know, for a long time, for... the past couple of years... I've been slow to build back from, you know... From what I lost."

"Oh," Willow said, looking at a loss now that she knew what Buffy was referring to. To the fact that Buffy had found perfect happiness - and Willow could think of no one she knew who deserved it more - and Willow had torn her out of it against her will. _Road to hell, meet good intentions_, Willow thought, and not for the first time, but she tried to stay focused on what Buffy was saying, despite the dirt-heavy pressure she felt in her chest at the thought of it.

"And I know this has weighed on you, Willow. But...I don't want it to. Because I can honestly say that I am GLAD to be alive," Buffy said, almost laughing at how strange the words sounded coming from her, how absurd and wonderful that she would be able to say them.

"You don't have to say that Buffy-"

"I wouldn't if it weren't true. I am grateful to be alive. I'm grateful that I get to see things and go places, that I get to be with Dawn and get to know her so much better than when I was just the overprotective big sis. I'm grateful for what we've been able to do - you, me, all of us - because there's a lot of evil that probably wouldn't have gotten beated if it weren't for us. And I'm grateful we don't have to fight alone, that we told those dudes - the ones who decided one girl would have power and that she would have to die young - that they could go screw themselves. I wasn't supposed to live past 20 and now I can think about family and love and life and a career and new experiences and pretty much anything I want. And I wouldn't have any of this if you hadn't brought me back. I wanted to say thank you, Willow. For bringing me back. Thank you for coming to get me."

Willow sat silently in amazement, long since unable to control the tears from coming down her face. "But, Buffy, I..."

"Willow, this is the me-thanking-you moment. If you turn it into a Willow-apologizes-again-even-though-Buffy-just-said-she-doesn't-need-to-be-sorry moment? You're totally not getting your souveneir."

Willow laughed then, and as her shoulders shook with laughter, two years of regret and and self-loathing rattled out of her like so much muscle tension. And she smiled through her tears and said, "Well, I do love presents. So I'll just say... thank you for thanking me."

Buffy smiled with affection as they hugged again, for a long time. Until finally Buffy said, words half-muffled from her face still being pressed on Willow's shoulder, "I sure hope you like refrigerator magnets of the Mona Lisa flipping the bird."

Willow smiled and said, in all sincerity, "Just what I always wanted."

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Originally written for comment_fic on livejournal, a multi-fandom fic prompting community

Prompt was Buffy and Willow, Buffy gets over her angst and thanks Willow for bringing her back


End file.
